Buttermilk Biscuit Muffins with Ginger Plum Jam and my final day in Ohio Amish Country at Murphin Ridge Inn

A good buttermilk biscuit is a thing of beauty, light, flaky and buttery. Add a spoonful of homemade ginger plum jam and you’ve got a country breakfast on a plate. Of course, some people seem super scared of making biscuits, thinking they’ll make them hard, tough or misshapen. Thankfully there is an easy solutions to this dilemma – make biscuit muffins! The buttermilk biscuit muffin with ginger plum jam that you see above looks WAY fancier than it actually is, as they are crazy easy to make. The biscuit muffin is a little bit of genius inspired by a recipe from the Murphin Ridge Inn Cookbook, which I picked up when I was in Ohio Amish country last Spring, along with a number of other food bloggers. I had a chance to write about the other two inns I visited on that trip, the Inn at Honey Run and the Inn at Cedar Falls but somehow I never got to writing about the Murphin Ridge Inn, which is sad as it was probably my favorite one in the bunch.(Jump directly to the recipe.)

While in Ohio Amish Country, before we headed to the Murphin Ridge Inn, we stopped to learn a bit about maple syrup. The tour of the maple trees of Ohio, along with the history of maple syrup and how it was discovered was fascinating. Most maple syrup is made from sugar maple trees (though other maple tress like red maple or black maple can also be used. The tree stores starches in their trunk and roots, and convert it to sugar, that is rise in the tree in the Spring. Tapping the tree allows the sap to be collected, which is needs to be boiled down to create maple syrup. Somewhere between 20 to 50 liters of sap is needed to boil down to make just 1 liter of maple syrup!

After the maple syrup tour, we did a quick hike around Ohio country, in Hocking Hills State Park, to Old Man’s Cave. The hike in the brisk country air was bracing (in a good way) and I stopped often to marvel at the rock formations and picturesque pools and waterfalls that we would come across. I never would have guessed that Ohio had great places to hike (and apparently there’s great rock climbing and rappelling as well around there).

Of course, when we finally got to Murphin Ridge Inn, owners Sherry and Darryl made us feel incredibly warm and welcome after a day of hiking in the country. Their simple lunch of soup and salad (with a signature Murphin Ridge biscuit) was exactly what we all needed after running around outside.

We didn’t have much time to hang out at Murphin Ridge Inn, as we soon found ourselves whisked off after lunch to a working Amish farm, where we learned a little bit about how the Amish milk their cows (they used gas generators to power their equipment!) and even a sneak peak into their kitchen, which was the heart of their home for the family of ten. The family was incredibly welcoming to us, offering us homemade mozzarella, bread and a sweet rolled bread that was just out of the oven.

Driving around the country, I was insistent that we stop at an antique shop and the one we ended up stopping at (there were tons) was outrageous. From the dozen or so peacocks strutting around the grounds, to the two large warehouses full of treasures and random knick knacks. Ohio Amish country had some incredible treasures, all waiting to be discovered. If only I had space for some of the finds there!

Back at Murphin Ridge Inn, the food writers and bloggers all gathered up for dinner, which was a fantastic five-course meal which included a scrambled egg custard with crunchy fried pork jowl, celery root and pear soup with spiced granola, rosemary carpaccio with arugula and slow braised chicken with spring vegetables all made from farm-fresh food. Chef Brad impressed all of us jaded food bloggers with his cuisine, while the servers entertained us to no end. Even though I’m used to eating “localvore” style in San Francisco, there’s something super awesome when your server owns the cow that the cream came from in your dinner. Now that’s local!

Once dinner was over, we gathered outside, grabbed some logs from the pile of wood, and huddled around the fire pit, talking about how awesome our trip had been before retiring to our comfy cozy rooms. Every inn we visited, all the food, all the people made us realize how vibrant the Ohio Amish Country is. None of us wanted to say goodbye.

We woke up early for breakfast, coming down in our robes, to eat one last meal together and to get one last picture together. Saying goodbye was hard, both to each other, to Murphin Ridge Inn, and to Ohio Amish country. I can only hope that some day I’ll have the chance to come back and visit.

We'll always have Ohio

Special thanks goes to The Inn at Honey Run, The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls and Murphin Ridge Inn for hosting me for this trip to Ohio Amish Country. All travel, accommodations, meals and tours were provided by the hosts. That said, I was not compensated otherwise for what I wrote above and everything I have written is my own opinion.

Buttermilk Biscuit Muffins with Ginger Plum Jam

By Irvin Lin

For some people, making biscuits from scratch can be intimidating but this recipe is easy, especially since you just scoop the dough into greased muffin tins to bake the biscuits. I used maple sugar to give a touch of maple sweetness, but feel free to use plain white sugar in it’s place. White Lily Flour is a lower gluten bleached flour that is available in the Midwest and the south. If you don’t have access to it, try using cake flour or bleached all purpose flour in it’s place. The ginger plum jam is a great way to use the last of the summertime stone fruit. It’s intense bright color is looks great against the biscuit. The batch is small (I don’t bother to can it) but should keep in the fridge for 7 to 10 days, just enough for breakfast for the week.

1. Make the biscuits by preheating the oven to 350˚F and greasing a standard muffin tin with butter or neutral cooking spray. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a balloon whisk, vigorously stir the dry ingredients until well blended. Cut the butter into 1/2 inch chunks and sprinkle over the dry ingredients and toss to coat. Flatten the cubes of butter with your fingers until all the butter has been smashed. Start rubbing and squeezing the butter together with your fingers and hands until the ingredients start to clump together.

2. Add the buttermilk and then toss with a fork until the dough starts to form. Switch to a large spatula and fold the dough lightly to incorporate the rest of the dry ingredients. Don’t overwork the dough (it’s ok to have some dry pockets) as the more you work the ingredients, the more tough the biscuits will be. Divide the dough into the muffin tins and brush the top of the biscuits with the melted butter. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the biscuit is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the biscuit comes out clean.

3. Make the jam by chopping the pitting and chopping the plums into 1/2 inch chunks. Add the plums and the rest of the jam ingredients into a pot and turn the heat to high, stir constantly and cook until the liquid starts to boil. Reduce to a simmer (medium low heat) and cook until the fruit starts to break down and the jam has reduced to a thick honey consistency, about 15-20 minutes or so. Let cool and refrigerate in a clean jar once the jam has reaches room temperature.

Maple sugar *in* the biscuits? oh that sounds heavenly! I recently made a honey-mascarpone panna cotta with ginger plum sauce and could have easily eaten the sauce entirely by itself. I love the flavor combo. Saving these guys for a day when I can curl up under a blanket with a cup of tea and a good book 🙂

p.s. Gorgeous photos! (as always) I’ve lived an hour away from Lancaster County, PA for 3 years and have yet to make a trip. I think I may start planning a trip in October when the leaves turn brilliant and the farm stands are laden with apples and cider donuts… 🙂

I’ve decided. I want to be Amish, sit on a porch rocking chair and have a peacock…all whilst eating buttermilk biscuits and plum jam. What a great post Irvin. Such a fun experience…and so beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Follow Me On

“My goodness, this cookbook! It’s filled to the brim with recipes for the most splendidly beautiful cakes, cookies, breads, and tarts I think I’ve ever seen. My eyes kept getting wider and wider as I turned every page—both the flavor combinations and the photos are out of this world. Irvin Lin has most definitely outdone himself. This book is a triumph!”
—REE DRUMMOND, New York Times best-selling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks

“Irvin Lin gives home-baked treats a twist, ramping them up with a range of contemporary flavors that are sure to surprise and delight. From beer-battered brownies to smoky butterscotch taking a classic cake to the next level, I can’t wait to mix, stir, and bake my way through Marbled, Swirled, and Layered!”
—DAVID LEBOVITZ, author of My Paris Kitchen

Subscribe via Email

The Baker, Writer, Recipe Maker

Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Irvin Lin, an IACP-Award winning photographer, award winning baker, award winning graphic designer, storyteller, recipe developer, writer and average joe bon vivant. Hilarity often ensues when I'm involved. I currently reside in San Francisco in the neighborhood people have recently taken to calling "The Gastro" - a block from Dolores Park and right near Tartine Bakery, Bi Rite Market & Creamery, and Delfina.

I can also be found at various food events around the city. Feel free to contact me by clicking on that picture of me up above or emailing me eatthelove {at} gmail {dot} com.

Search Eat the Love

“Irvin Lin is the creative mind behind his Eat the Love food blog. Lin’s impressive photography skills support his training in graphic design on the site, and you would never believe that is food blogger is a self-taught baker.” - PBS Food

“We love Eat the Love because Irvin's beautiful sweets look as good as they taste — his art director's eye appreciates the ruby sparkle of a pile of pomegranate seeds against the matte canvas of chocolate ganache.”
- Saveur.com, Sites We Love

“Lin, a designer and baker, shares his passion for baking with creative sweets that focus on seasonal ingredients with healthy doses of humor and charm. It's impossible not to read his site and crave dessert.”
- Yum Food & Fun Magazine

Rotating Favorite Photographers

Disclaimer

This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. I only recommend products (usually cookbooks, but sometimes ingredients or equipment) that I use and love, not for any compensation unless otherwise noted in the blog post. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the book or item of your choice.